Acute Renal Failure is when the kidneys abruptly stop functioning by excreting wastes of the body. Abnormal functions that can cause acute renal failure are that the body cannot regulate acid-base balance of bodily fluids, regulation of one’s blood pressure which affects waste products not being filtered from the body, and irregularities of red blood cell production.
There are many factors that can cause a person’s kidneys to stop working properly. A prerenal cause is something that occurs in the bloody supply to the kidneys, such as inadequate blood profusion to the kidneys. Having inadequate blood profusion prevents the kidneys from cleansing the blood in the body. An intrarenal cause, also known as an intrinsic renal failure is damage that was caused my medications, injury, or diseases that also affect the kidneys to fail. Certain medications are very strong and with long term use causes damage to the kidneys. Diseases such as Acute Tubular Necrosis (ATN), Acute Interstitial Nephritis (AIN), and Acute Glomulonephritis cause the kidneys to fail because the greatly effects the ability to filter blood and urine. A postrenal cause is an obstruction in the urinary tract causing the patient to urinate less frequently or in small quantities.
There are exams that can help diagnose acute renal failure such as blood tests like Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN), Creatinine clearance, Serum Creatinine, Serum Potassium, electrolyte levels, acid-base balance, GFR and Urinalysis. These blood tests may help the doctor understand why the kidney is malfunctioning. Urinalysis and be done to see to what extent the kidneys are damaged by checking what components are present in the urine. Other exams available and that are well preferred for accurate d...
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There are two types of glomerulonephritis—acute renal failure (ARF) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). The ACF form generally develops suddenly as a result of an infection or illness, such as, group A streptococci bacteria, hepatitis, or in diseases such as lupus or HIV (Mathias, 2013). This type may require dialysis to replace renal function while it lasts, however, kidney function usually returns after the primary illness is treated. Many acute patients will not have any other complications as no permanent damage is done. Whereas CKD is found in a person that has had glomerulonephritis for months to years in some cases and may be asymptomatic until the kidney has become irreversibly damaged. ARF can evolve to become chronic if the glomeruli do not respond to
The kidneys play a major role in the blood composition and volume , the excretion of metabolic wastes in the urine, the control the acid/base balance in the body and the hormone production for maintaining hemostasis. The damages to the GBM in the glomeruli alter filtration process that allows the protein and red blood cells to leak into the urine. Loss of protein like albumin in the urine results in a decrease of their level into the blood stream. Consequently, this patient’s blood reveals a decreased albumin (Alb) value of 2.9 g/dL, decreased serum total protein value of 5 .0 g/dL and in the urine presents of the protein and the RBCs. Impaired filtering capacity result in inability of kidneys to excrete excretory products like electrolytes and metabolic waste products that will then accumulate in the blood. Furthermore, inability of distal convoluted tubules to excrete sufficient quantities of potassium, sodium, magnesium (Mg), chloride (Cl), urea, creatinine (Cr), alkaline phosphatase (Alk Phos), and phosphate (PO4) results in their elevation in the blood. His laboratory values reveal an increased of sodium value of 149 meq/L, an increase of potassium value of 5.4meq/L, increased chloride value of 116 meq/L, increased blood urea nitrogen (BUN) serum of 143 mg/dL, and increased creatinine serum of 7.14 mg/dL. The other abnormal blood tests associated with a loss of kidneys’ filtration property identify in this patient are related to an increase of alkaline phosphatase value of 178 IU/L, increased magnesium value of 3.8mgdL, and increased phosphate (PO4) value of 5.9 mg/dL .
To have a better understanding of your patients particular case with acute kidney failure you would want to gather a patient history to see if they have used any nephrotoxic medications or have had systemic illnesses in the past that may have been related to poor perfusion in their body. The laboratory tests you would want to pay attention to would be a complete blood count, urinalysis, ultrasound, glomerular filtration rate and a measurement of serum creatinine and potassium level (Rahman, Shad, Smith 2012).
Pathophysiology There are three different stages of acute renal failure; prerenal, intrarenal, and post renal. Prerenal failure is a result from an illness or injury that causes obstruction of blood flow to the kidneys, called hypoperfusion. Hypotension, hypervolemia and inadequate cardiac output are all examples that could cause prerenal failure. According to Lippincott Williams and Wilkins (2009), “prerenal azotemia, excess nitrogenous waste products in the blood, account for 40% to 80% of all cases of acute renal failure” (p. 307). Intrarenal is when there is direct damage to the kidney tissue by either inflammations, drugs, infections or a reduction in the blood supply to the kidney. Post renal is when there is an obstruction of the urine flow. Causes of obstruction could be enlarged prostate gland, kidney stones, bladder tumor or injury. There are four phases of acute renal failure; onset, oliguria, diuresis and recovery. The onset phase can last hours or up to days. The BUN and creatinine levels may start to increas...
Overall, for an acute kidney failure patient the hope is that they are able to have complete recovery and be free of complications and electrolyte and fluid imbalances by the end of treatment. Though, this is not true for most, because many AKI patients have co-existing morbidities and need treatment until the end of life. As nurses all we can do is give the best care that we know how and make our patients feel as comfortable as possible while they’re under our care.
There are several diagnostic test or evaluations done to prognosis acute renal failure. These are:
The renal disease are common nowadays .The acute renal failure is a medical term means that the kidneys stopped from working and not able to clear toxins from body ,not able to maintained a stable electrolyte balance inside the body and not able to secret the extra fluid as urine outside the body. The renal replacement therapy (RRT) or dialysis has been discovered on 1913 by Able, Rowntree and Turner in London, UK.
Renal failure is a broad health problem that is prevalent in today’s general population. There are five different types of kidney failure categorize the diagnosis of renal failure. Having a definition of Kidney Failure helps form an understanding of medical treatment issues surrounding this diagnosis and the impact had on not only the individuals but on support systems as well.
Kidney damage can occur from hypertension which causes blood vessels in the kidneys to shrink and harden; infections travelling though the bloodstream; long-term and uncontrolled diabetes, and genetically inherited kidney problems. (Edith Cowan University, 2001-2004)
United States Renal Data System (USRDS). (2008). Annual data report: Incidence and prevalence. Retrieved July 8, 2009, from http://www.usrds.org/2008/pdf/V2-02-2008.pdf
This article describes the choices for treatment: hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, and kidney transplantation. It gives the pros and cons of each. It also discusses diet and paying for treatment. It gives tips for working with your doctor, nurses, and others who make up your health care team. It provides a list of groups that offer information and services to kidney patients. It also lists magazines, books, and brochures that you can read for more information about treatment.
If the patient has a urinary catheter, and most ICU patients do, he or she may not have any reportable symptoms. Therefore, good assessment of urinary elimination, done in relation to a patient’s signs, symptoms, urine amount, intake and output, and lab values, is important. The lab values are discussed in Chapter 5. Acute and chronic renal failure can cause numerous systemic symptoms and altered homeostasis ( Collins, 2011). See Table 3-10 for abnormal urinary elimination.
The Kidneys play a vital role in the body. The kidney cleanses the blood of wastes and also plays a part in electrolyte balance. Once the kidneys stop working it results into kidney failure. Kidney failure can occur in an acute situation or due to a chronic disease like diabetes that gradually causes kidneys to stop functioning. Once with a diagnosis of kidney failure, the first step is to treat the underlying causes like diabetes or high blood
Kidneys perform many functions essential to the bodies functioning. The strain that is put on kidneys opens them up to many problems that can occur. Childhood sicknesses can result in failure of the kidneys to perform dialysis in later years of a person's life. Also, excessive minerals in the blood stream can cause kidney stones, which are very painful.
Chronic Kidney Disease. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 2014. Web. 20 May 2014.